Foundries Take Over 200mm Fab Capacity by 2018

IoT drives worldwide 200mm fab capacity in 2018 back to 2006 levels.

The industry’s first and only ‘Global 200mm Fab Outlook report to 2018’ reveals a change in the landscape for 200mm fab capacity.

See figure 1

Figure 1

In comparing 2006 versus 2018, memory capacity share of 200mm has declined to just about 2% as most memory production has migrated to 300mm fabs . A similar transition to 300mm has occurred in Logic/MPU device production.

On the other hand, we see strong 200mm capacity growth from Discrete/Power, MEMS, and Analog segments in part to the transition from 150mm production to 200mm production. Foundry has also been gaining share, driven by strong demand for PMIC, display driver IC, CMOS image sensor, MCU, MEMS, and other devices requiring >90nm process technology. These device technologies are cited as key components for many IoT applications.

Based on these observations, the IoT wave appears to be breathing new life into 200mm fabs. Before the advent of the IoT movement began, 2012 data suggested a decline in 200mm fabs. However, comparing the worldwide installed capacity for 200mm in 6 year intervals, we expect capacity to return to 2006 levels by 2018. See figure 2

Figure 2

A number of 200mm fab projects globally are being expanded or built through the end of 2018, resulting in capacity growth through the end of that year.

The 200mm Fab Outlook report to 2018 is the industry’s first and one-of-a kind 200mm fab outlook report. It features analysis and forecasts (tables, graphs and text) in over 80 pages in Adobe Acrobat, accompanied by detailed data in an Excel spreadsheet.

This report is of critical interest to anyone who participates in the 200mm device manufacturing supply chain. The Global 200mm Fab Outlook report analyzes past trends and explores future trends out to 2018, extending the forecast period of our existing Fab Database reports.

In this new report, SEMI tracks over 200 facilities manufacturing devices on 200mm wafers, including those that are planned, under construction, installing new equipment, active, closing, or closed. Over 110 individual companies or institutions are covered. Fab information detailed in the report includes geographic location, amount of equipment spending, capacity trends, and product type changes.

Here are some of the key highlights from the report:

Trend of 200mm fab count and capacity out to 2018 (compared to 150mm and 300mm)

200mm Silicon wafer shipment trends

Capacity addition by existing and new fabs out to 2018

Fabs changing from smaller wafer sizes to 200mm

Fabs changing from 200mm to other wafer sizes (like 300mm)

Fabs closed (and still closed), will be closed and may be closed by region and product type